The Real Estate landscape is interesting, particularly the category of companies that promise you the 'most qualified agent for your sale or search' using publicly available agent performance data. Following are from a growth brainstorming session for one such marketplace of agents, buyers and sellers.

Value to Marketplace:
(1) New User Acquisition (Buyer, Seller or Agent) (2) Revenue from Complimentary Services (3) Brand Recognition (4) Other Strategic Value

Target Categories:
Anyone that captures (1) current or potential homeowners (2) Deterministic or Probabilistic intent to buy/sell:

(1) Shopping/Service Marketplaces Ex: Amazon, Walmart, Ebay, Lowes, AHA, AirBnB etc.
(2) Real Estate / Lender Marketplaces Ex: Redfin, Zillow, Realtor etc.
(3) Publishers Ex: Home & Garden, HGTV, Ebates, Design Blogs, Other Vertical Blogs & Publishers (4) Brands Ex: Ikea, Serta, Casper Mattress, UHaul
(5) Apps Ex: Pinterest, Wanelo, Thumbtack, Wish, Mint, CreditKarma etc.
(6) Direct Mail Ex: Postal Service, ValPack
(7) Financial Institutions: BOA, Wells Fargo, Credit Unions etc.
(8) Credit Cards Ex: Amex, Mastercard, Visa
(9) Public Data Ex: Divorce, Foreclosure, Death Records
(10) Data Aggregators Ex: Acxiom, Epsilon
(11) Local Ex: Furniture Store, Locksmiths, Painter, Landscaper, Cleaners, Movers
(12) Vertical Services Ex: Loan, Escrow, Contractor, Home Inspector, Stager etc.
(13) Property Management Firms
(14) Others

Partnership Process:
(1) Identify (Qualify partners based on objectives & mutual fit)
(2) Quantify (Make business case, justify economics, LOE vs ROI)
(3) Negotiate, Engage & Test (Clearly define the test and success metrics) (4) Determine Scale Economics
(5) Create Repeatable Partnership Framework
(6) Repeat (Find partners with similar characteristics)

Product Process:
(1) Audit onboarding. Chart funnel. (2) A/B Test messaging and lead sources.

KPIs (buyers and sellers):
1. # of buyers/sellers acquired
2. # of buyers/sellers on-boarded
3. # of buyers/sellers engaged
4. # of buyers/sellers objective achieved 5. CPA vs LTV

North Star Metric: # Homes Bought or Sold

Insights per National Association of Realtors Generational Trends 2017:

74% of home sellers aged 36 and younger used a referral or the same real estate agent they had worked with in the past.
Buyers 36 years and younger (Millennials/Gen Yers) is the largest share of home buyers at 34 percent (down from 35 percent last year)
For all sellers, the most commonly cited reason for selling their home was that it was too small (18 percent)
The desire to move closer to friends and family (15 percent)
Job relocation (14 percent).
Sellers 36 and under cited that:

Home was too small (37 percent, up from 31 percent last year), which was higher than any
other age group.
For sellers 62 years and over, they cited they wanted to be closer to friends and family (26
percent).
Sellers 37 to 51 years cited that the home was too small (26 percent) and selling for a job
relocation (22 percent).